At 15h47 on Sunday the 10th of May, Station 25 Hartbeespoort Dam crew responded to reports of a boat capsized near to the Eagle Waters Resort on the Southern part of Hartbeespoort Dam.They launched the rescue craft AFROX RESCUER II and NSRI rescue crew, the SA Police Services and Hartbeespoort ambulance and rescue services responded directly to the scene.A search commenced for a boy, due to turn 2 in June, who had gone missing after the 4.5 meter rubber duck capsized about 300 meters from the bank of Hartbeespoort Dam near to Eagle waters Resort.Despite an extensive search sadly no sign of the boy has been found.A Police Dive Unit will continue a search from first light on Monday and Police have opened an inquest docket.It appears that the Pretoria North family, husband and wife and their two children, their 18 month old daughter and their young son were staying at a local caravan park for the weekend. Onboard the boat were the skipper, the mother of the missing boy and 3 children.From eye-witnesses accounts it appears that during the boat making a tight turn on the water it is suspected that the tube dug in and may have caused the boat to capsize causing those onboard to be thrown out. It is believed that no life-jackets were being worn by those on the boat at the time.The two children on the tube were not affected by the capsizing of the boat.Bystanders located some men with a jet-ski and they launched and went to their aid while other bystanders raised the alarm. An initial search by those on the jet-ski revealed no sign of the missing boy. The boat and the survivors were towed to shore before NSRI Hartbeespoort Dam, Police and ambulance services arrived on the scene. An extensive search continued until after sunset but there remained no sign of the missing toddler.
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